Dubai: Talented Irish jockey Oisin Murphy, who has enjoyed a notable first season in the UAE, is relishing the prospect of taking on favourite Muaraab when he partners Morawij in the Dh500,000 Listed Jebel Ali Mile — the highlight of Jebel Ali Racecourse’s final race meeting of the season on Friday.
The 19-year-old was in red-hot form last weekend, booting home three winners for the Jebel Ali Stables, and will be hoping to carry on the momentum at Jebel Ali and at this weekend’s Super Saturday meeting at Meydan, the dress-rehearsal for the Dubai World Cup on March 28.
Muaraab, trained by Emirati handler Musabah Al Muhairi, has posted four wins at Jebel Ali this season, including when he beat Morawij by one-and-a-half lengths in the Jebel Ali Sprint Prep a fortnight ago, but Murphy believes the horse is not invincible.
“It looks a really hot race, with Muarrab obviously the one to beat, having won the prep,” he told a press conference at Jebel Ali on Tuesday. “But we have the motivation and hopefully Muarrab won’t get a soft lead this time and we’ll have a tighter result.”
Murphy, who has made a meteoric rise through the jockey ranks since his debut last season, says the reason Muaraab looks so formidable is that he hasn’t been seriously challenged yet.
“He gets a lot of weight often and obviously he’s a tough horse, but he has a lot to find on ratings. If he gets taken on, it might just upset him,” he said optimistically. “He’s a natural front runner and he gets his own way because he’s got such good gate speed. But I think if he didn’t have his own way in front, he is beatable.”
Murphy said he was looking forward to returning to the UAE next season and continuing to ride for Jebel Ali Stables should the opportunity be given to him.
“It’s been a great first season here and I’ve really had a good time, particularly like last week when we had the treble,” he said, “It’s days like these that you get up for each morning and work hard to make it happen.
“It’s great that the horses are running well, especially with some of the best racing to come, with Super Saturday and the Dubai World Cup. Obviously it’s a really good month and I’m looking forward to it.”
Meanwhile, Shareef Al Halawani, Manager at Jebel Ali Racecourse, thanked all the sponsors for supporting racing through the season and welcomed Roma Capanelle, who have been a long-time partner.
